China Approved 453 Games in Q1 — European Studios Are Not in the Queue The regulatory gate into the world's largest games market is open. European studios are standing on the wrong side of it — not because they were rejected, but because most never applied. --- ## What Happened in China China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) approved 133 games in March 2026, granting licences to 130 domestic online games and three imported titles. That brought the Q1 2026 total to 453 domestic game licences issued — a pace that signals the regulator has returned to a stable, predictable approval rhythm after years of freezes and slowdowns that rattled the global industry. The domestic approvals in March included titles from China's biggest studios: Tencent's Li Li's Tiny World, 37 Interactive Entertainment's Little Helmet Adventure, and Kingnet's Legend of Heroes. These are not indie experiments. They are products…